Best Way to Use CF? (Hard Core CFers Advice Requested)

[Richard Jordan]

I am trying to figure out the best way to stay engaged at CF. How do you all keep up to date with new threads and posts? I especially would be interested in hearing from some of the hard core posters out ther like GordMay, Mark J, etc. Would love to hear from anyone who has a good system.

Options I am looking at:

- Email: Currently I get an email report for certain sub forums daily but I miss out on the fun if a thread goes up midday. I also do not want to have a digest for every sub forums because that would overload my inbox.
- Rss: There is an rss feed at
<![CDATA[Cruisers & Sailing Forums]]>
but it seems to only show new threads? The items are different than what you see on the other options. Maybe that's a good thing so not to overload?
- Mobile app: the current tab on the mobile app is pretty good but I just have an iPad and no iPhone which I rarely take around.
- Portal page: Just watch the portal page and refresh the browser?
- iSpy page: A feature introduced by Janet H earlier this year
iSpy

What options am I missing? What do you use?

[GordMay]

I click on "New Posts", and look for updates to interesting threads.

There was a time when I read every single posts. Those days are long gone.

[Richard Jordan]

Thanks GordMay. Glad this thread met your interest.

[zeehag]

what gord said....same here. when i am sailing i miss a lot of new stuff, but is easy enough to catch up after i anch0r if i feel that urge.....

[MarkJ]

Originally Posted by jordanship

hard core posters out ther like GordMay, Mark J,

Hard core?!!!!!!

Gord may be. I am soft and squishy to the core

I do have a setup that makes finding new posts easily.
I use the Portal button to get the latest 1 page of posts and after I have delt with that crap () I click new posts and look at the earlier ones I haven't read.

The most important thing imho is how I set it up to read a thread...
When I click on a thread it goes straight to the last post I have read and then I scoll UPWARDS to the newer posts. So the latest post is at the top of the page (Look in Options).

Also I have set the number of posts per page to the Maximum (40 posts). This means that all the new posts will be on the page I land on, I don't have to click through pages.

Finally, I have Maxthon browser that like Internet Explorer works with tabs, but Maxthon lets me select where the tabs load. I load to the right next to the tab I am at (IE wont allow this). So when I Middle Click a link in Maxtho it will load it to the right of the tab I am working on. So if I click 20 threads to view the one at the furtherest right of my browser is the first I have clicked. Then I can work left to the newest post.

The Post Feed doesn't work in my browser.

So: Experiment with the Options for the forum and for your browser till you find a way that you can view the good stuff.

I have NO email subscriptions, nor subscriptions at all.

Gord Says: "There was a time when I read every single posts. Those days are long gone."
I agree. Theres too many posts to do them all so I look at the Title. If its some crap: "Look at This" I don't! If the title shows the subject clearly: "How to Reef in Storms?" I read it immediately. (This thread subject made me read it first! )

I check the forum 3 times per day: 8am, 2PM, 8PM. Why? Because thats when the latest Hurricane news is released!!


Mark

[Richard Jordan]

I meant hard core as a compliment! Geez Louise... Zeehag is hard core too not to leave anyone out.

My email subscriptions are not working for me so good to hear that's true for others. Will check out the options and browser rec.

[MarkJ]

Originally Posted by jordanship

I meant hard core as a compliment! Geez Louise...

I don't post very much either!

[Astrid]

yes, with only 7073 posts to your credit, we can see that you are not a big poster.

[TaoJones]

Originally Posted by jordanship

My email subscriptions are not working for me so good to hear that's true for others. Will check out the options and browser rec.

I've checked your settings in the Admin CP, Richard, and the reason email notification of new posts to your subscribed threads isn't working is because you have it turned off (see screen shot, below). Your settings are exactly like mine, otherwise, except that I've disabled Profile Comments.

I rely on Today's Posts to scan what's been posted since I last checked, as well as everything else in the last 24 hours, even if I've been through the older posts already. To get to Today's Posts, click on Quick Links in the top menu bar to open the drop-down menu. Today's Posts is the first option. When you open Today's Posts, you'll see the same information as the Portal page provides, but in a more reader-friendly format.

I need that version of new posts because I can fix titles on that page (spelling, punctuation, structure, length, etc.) but it's equally useful for every reader. Threads I've not opened since I last scanned titles before checking Mark Forums Read (third from top on that same drop-down menu) are in boldface type and all of the titles will appear that way 'til I get down to the point where I last selected Mark Forums Read.

Like everyone else, I couldn't possibly read every post in every thread, though unlike Mark I don't have the luxury of ignoring a thread just because a title is poorly thought out. I'll fix the ones that are worth the effort (it doesn't take long after you've done it for more than two years ), tend to the items that are my current specialty (Marketing and Advertising), check the new posts in Classifieds and Crews before moving the listings that have aged-out from those fora to their respective archives, go back to the top of Today's Posts to check titles down to the first one that was there when I started perhaps twenty miinutes earlier, fix those that need fixing, then select Mark Forums Read to, essentially, reset everything for next time.

I can scan the entire site in less than a half hour, fixing titles as I go and PMing where necessary. Because I can do it so quickly now, I tend to do other things and only log in and repeat the procedure every two to three hours. The first scan of the morning takes the longest, while those I do through the day can take as little as five minutes.

You will be logging in and reading for reasons that are different from mine, but the procedure will work just as well for you or any other member.

TaoJones

[RainDog]

RSS! That way you can see every thread as it starts, then you can subscribe to the ones you want to keep up with. On the same page you can see all the new posts in all the great sailing blogs you should be following!

[Richard Jordan]

RainDog, I like Rss usually too. Do you use the link I provided or is there a better link? It seems to show new threads.
Thanks Tao for the check. I'lll change that so that email works.

[RainDog]

Yes. I use the link you provided. It shows the first post in all threads. If I am interested in a thread, I click through then use the "thread tools" to subscribe to the thread. That gives me email updates of new posts. I also periodically check the portal and use the Android app to see what threads are showing a lot of activity, but the RSS feed is definately my favorite.

The only downside I have found with this plan is it does not show you what forum threads are in on the RSS feed, so when clicking through I try to remember to check. Occastionally the forum is relevant to the post and by not checking you can commit faux pas.

[Richard Jordan]

Cool. That sounds like a good option for me, a combination of RSS and email. Other idea I now have is to create an rss of the new posts page using something like feed43.com

[avb3]

Originally Posted by RainDog

Yes. I use the link you provided. It shows the first post in all threads. If I am interested in a thread, I click through then use the "thread tools" to subscribe to the thread. That gives me email updates of new posts. I also periodically check the portal and use the Android app to see what threads are showing a lot of activity, but the RSS feed is definately my favorite.

How often does the RSS renew? I just set it up in Google Reader, and I think I may be missing something, because very few feeds come through.

[RainDog]

I never kept track, but by best guess is the feed updates in Google Reader once every hour or two. I seem to get them in groups.

I would have thought as soon as you added it you would have had a large number of unread items.